Frozen Ashes
by Door Is Ajar
Summary: The Captain-Lieutenant pair of Squad 10 is an odd one, but they make it work. A series of one-shots- some longer than others- that deals with the odd connection they share. [Chapter 4 is the most story-oriented chapter.]
1. Invincible

His arms flailed, reaching and grabbing for anything his hands could touch. He felt like he was drowning, yet he knew that was not the case. There was just so much blood in his throat, and he could feel it dripping over him, and at the sight of his Lieutenant and Momo and a few other close friends bleeding out across some unfamiliar land, more blood rose into his mouth.

"Cap... Wake..." Some bits of a sound were reaching him, and his eyes darted around.

His head turned to the wrong side, and he screamed out as someone stabbed a sword through his abdomen. Blood was pooling from his mouth, and his eye sight was hazy.

"...up! ... hear me?"

More noise filled his ears, and his search continued. He froze as a sword tip came rushing for his face.

His eyes shot open, and he gasped upon awakening. His hands shook, and he was drenched in a cold sweat. He realized he had been asleep on the office couch, and beside him was an uncharacteristically worried-looking lieutenant.

"Captain."

Her voice was soft, and for once she appeared out of place. She realized what an embarrassing position she had been put in- not for herself, but for her captain.

Silence filled a few tense moments, until his breathing evened out and the flared pain in his chest had diminished considerably.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

His eyes rounded up to meet Matsumoto's, which had turned soft to match her voice. He fought the tremors still encasing his hands and swallowed the lump in his throat. He sat up and diverted his eyes to the floor.

"No, thank you, Matsumoto."

His voice sounded a bit groggy and hoarse. He wanted to blame it on the recent lack of sleep, but he was sure some of the screams from his sleep had managed to claw their way out to cause the odd sensation and tone of his voice- which he assumed was what alerted his lieutenant in the first place.

While he didn't acknowledge her again, she made herself comfortable on the couch beside him, rather too comfortably in his opinion, as she leaned back and placed her hands behind her head.

Her calm demeanor now hid the terror she experienced earlier perfectly. When she had first felt her captain's reitasu go haywire, she had shunpoed to his office without hesitation, and a fear gripped at her chest. She wasn't sure what could have caused Hitsugaya to so openly showcase such instability and lack of control- until she barged into the office to find him asleep on the couch.

He squirmed on the couch, and a scream had just left his throat before she had entered. A grimace sat square on his face; and as she began to detect traces of confusion in his reitasu, it jumped out at her as he unconsciously let more out, and fear was the only thing she could feel from him.

"I'm sorry to have worried you."

It sounded hollow, but Matsumoto realized the strength it took to speak.

He wanted to conceal whatever fear still remained, yet he wanted to show some type of gratitude. The two desires clashed, and his tone was left a clean slate.

She peered at him from the corner of her eyes. He sat with his head down, hands intertwined. The remnants of his dream still must have remained, or else she wouldn't have noticed a barely perceptible shake in his hands.

It was hard not to take note that her captain was but a child. And while everyone dealt with the gruesome and war-torn battlefield, nightmares left them all more vulnerable. His young age and years of inexperience didn't help.

With gentle hands, she covered his own, and he was shocked that, upon looking up, he was met with such warm yet understanding eyes. He wasn't sure what to make of the concern he was receiving. He wanted to push away, knowing that he was acting like the child everyone thought he was. Yet he appreciated the warmth now filling his hands and spreading to replace the fear that had instilled itself into his thoughts.

And his lieutenant realized this. So she spoke before he had a chance to retreat into a shell.

"Just because you're a captain doesn't make you invincible to these little things." His eyes widened, just the slightest, and she knew she had hit one of his concerns. "Everyone deals with nightmares, and yours are no less significant."

He remained frozen for a moment, before the tiniest of a smile broke through his features. While she could tell he was embarrassed, he was glad to have heard such nonsense from none other than his lieutenant.

"Thanks."

 _ **End**_


	2. Rest

She was too blessed to have him as her Captain. Of course, she was always caught and scolded for skimping on her paper work and for being drunk and for constantly sleeping... But he would never leave her work unfinished, and she always returned to it either complete or on its way to such.

So she realized it would be wrong to never return the most gracious favor.

"Captain!"

She halted in the door way of the Tenth Division main room, surprise evident on her face.

"Captain?" she called once more, entering hesitantly and silently sliding the door shut behind herself.

The room was rather dark; night had fallen hours ago, and the sole remnants of light came from the moon through the windows and a small candle that was placed on the corner of the captain's desk. However, it wasn't difficult to tell that her captain was not working on his or her paperwork.

Instead, he was asleep atop a piece, one of many still waiting to be filled out, as assumed by the rather tall stack that remained in the corner opposite that of the candle.

With soft steps, Matsumoto glided around the couch she so often occupied and to the desk. She peered down at the sheet of paper and was not surprised to see it was one of her own forms that she was supposed to fill out. She let out a sigh, and a tinge of guilt penetrated her heart, right where it had previously been overflowing with humor at the position her captain had unconsciously drifted to.

She considered searching for a blanket. She wouldn't dare try moving him in fear of waking him or else she would find him buried neck deep in work again. But she wasn't sure how soundly the captain had fallen asleep quite yet, and pushing her luck was not something Matsumoto wanted to test.

Not when she resolved herself to grab the stack of papers- a mixture of mostly her work and some of Captain Histugaya's own- and a stray pen off the desk to begin working on what she knew would take her all night to finish.

With careful movements, she placed the collected items on the table in front of the couch, before returning for the candle and setting it on the table, as well. She made herself comfortable enough to work as she drew the first paper off the stack.

She regretted her decision as her eyes glided over the paper, but the resolve kicked back in as she realized this piece was one of her captain's forms.

Sleep gnawed at her around three in the morning, after having been working quite diligently for at least four hours. She was shocked at how many of her forms she came across that she had started and then left unfinished, or that were late to be turned in and never started.

The stack had one quarter of its height left when she heard her captain stir, an uncomfortable, short sigh escaping him.

Silence remained for a few seconds before she heard him speak.

"Matsumoto?"

"Yes?" She turned around on the couch to answer her captain's confusion.

"What are you doing?"

Sleep obviously still desired to claim him. His arm was propped up by his elbow, with his head in his hand, and his eyes were open just enough to see his lieutenant.

"Paper work."

"Mm."

She assumed he had fallen back asleep, especially by the extremely nonchalant reply. However, her head perked up from the next paper she had drawn from the stack as she heard a chair scrape on the wooden floor, followed by sleep-laden steps.

"Scoot over."

To her left, Hitsugaya stood, his stance relaxed and eyes weighed down with sleep.

A grin passed her lips, but she silently scooted to the right. She leaned over the table to center the stack of papers once she noticed the pen Hitsugaya had brought from the desk, making it easy for the both of them to reach the unfinished work.

He grabbed for the first page and bent over to write on the lowered table. He was finished before Matsumoto was done with her own, and he pulled another sheet over to complete.

The two worked on in silence, an hour passing before Matsumoto realized her captain's movements had stilled. Not five pages remained, and her captain had fallen asleep, pen still in hand after having just put the header on the next form.

She froze her pen mid-word and gently laid the utensil down. She moved while holding her breathe, grabbing her captain's shoulders and pushing him back into the couch from his bent-back position. Just as his head began to tilt back towards the couch, his eyes lazily blinked open, just the tiniest of slits to peer at whatever had woken him.

"Go back to sleep, Captain."

A genuine smile appeared on her lips as his eyes closed once more and a soft, incoherent grunt replied to her. He sunk into the couch more comfortably as she returned back to the last reaming sheets.

It took no more than twenty minutes, but Matsumoto finished the paperwork before the sun had even begun to rise. She placed the last paper atop the finished stack and stretched to ward out the weariness and sluggishness that had resided in her bones and muscles, raising her arms high above her head. Despite her intentions, she found herself yawning, and she unconsciously drifted back towards the couch.

She turned her head once she had buried it into the couch. To her left, her captain remained asleep; and for once she truly realized what her laziness had thrust upon him. She was sure he dealt with many late nights like this, except where was she then?

She let out a sigh. The bags under his eyes wouldn't be gone later when he woke up- but they would disappear some tomorrow, now that she had done her share of the paperwork; he wouldn't be forced to complete work that was due the following day or, worse, past due.

She couldn't give up her drinking and partying and laziness- but she knew paperwork would have to join those three as her priority. It felt too nice in her chest to watch her captain sleep so peacefully, and she wished she could have only fully realized the effects of her actions sooner.

With the sight of the child captain calmly asleep, she was able to let her eyelids drop close and enjoy such a rewarding rest.

 ** _End_**


	3. Massage

"What are you doing, Matsumoto?"

The pen in his hand stopped moving as he let out a sigh.

"Giving you a massage."

Her thumbs prodded deep, yet soothingly, into his back, in between his shoulder blades.

"This is unnecessary."

"Who said it wasn't?"

Her voice carried a light humor to it, but her tone remained even and somewhat low, quite a contradiction from her usual loud outbursts.

"Just put the pen down and enjoy it for a second, Captain."

His pen twitched, as if to begin writing again. "And what if I don't?"

"Well, the sooner your massage is over, the sooner I'll get back to my paperwork." Her captain opened his mouth to shoot down her logic, but she beat him to it. "You're so tense, Captain, and I'm sure whatever I fix will just be set back into place if you keep working and stress over whatever you wind up reading."

He sighed in annoyance, and he silently placed the pen on the table. He remained mute, and Matsumoto hid her small excitement by focusing on the massage.

In all honesty, she wasn't far from the truth. She didn't realize that at such a young age her captain could be so tense. Granted he was a captain, it still threw her for a loop; and it only strengthened her want for him to relax.

She dug a little deeper, and he hesitantly was forced to place his arms on the table as leverage. A sigh passed his lips, but she realized this time it was from releasing whatever tension he was holding onto, whether it be in his shoulders or otherwise.

Despite his initial disapproval, he was gradually falling into the overly-calming motion, and his eyes weaved shut on their own accord.

He didn't care at that moment that Matsumoto had just bossed him around. He could only remind himself that he needed to thank her later for her kindness.

 _ **End**_


	4. Embrace

She held his head protectively against herself. She didn't even think of all the embarrassing (for him, anyway) times she had suffocated or smacked him with her large chest; she was too worried about the blood pooling out of him and onto the ground, his clothes, and her.

He let out a small noise, almost the beginning of a word, but it instantly fell flat.

"Captain, please relax."

He kept shifting, and she realized it was the pain that caused him to squirm, but the movement was only adding more.

"S-Sorry... Matsumoto."

He exhaled with heavy breaths, some containing a whining sound as he struggled. His hands were pressed against his stomach, futilely attempting to prevent the gush of blood from leaving him and making him feel so weak and light-headed. The hands shook, and once Matsumoto realized this, she put one of her own on top of his and coated her fingers and palm thoroughly with his steadily flowing blood. Her other hand held his head down, right below her chest, and occasionally wiped away the sweat that would collect from his forehead.

His breathing hitched as a wave of pain washed over him.

Help was coming; she had sent three others from their division back to fetch Squad Four. There was no way she could move her captain, not unless she was emotionally prepared for the type of pain she would be bringing upon him- and who was she kidding, she couldn't stomach what she was already seeing.

"Captain, remove your hands; I'll try to heal what I can before Squad Four gets here."

His eyes wandered up to hers. They were so weary, and she felt tired just staring into the dulled pools.

Her hand gently raised off of his own, praying she didn't jar his injury. His hands followed, even slower than her own. He tensed, and his shoulder blades dug into her. They came away coated in blood; and with no where else to go with them, he placed them on the grass on either side on himself, turning the green instantly to red- that is, in the bits not already coated.

She brought both hands over his stomach, and then, slowly, so as to not bring harm, a green light enveloped the bloody mess. His fingers twitched; the kido always brought an odd sensation- after all, it couldn't be relaxing to feel your skin being fixed and mended.

After the first few seconds passed, he relaxed into her lap, and his breathing evened out- not completely, but enough to let his lieutenant know that the kido was working favorably.

The process, however, continued for no more than two minutes when he spoke up, surprising Matsumoto both on account she believed he had fallen asleep and she had been so engrossed in her task, even unaware of the sweat forming on her own face from the exertion.

"Stop, Matsumoto," he spoke as his right hand reached for her wrist. "You're... injured, as well, and..." He fought the urge to squirm and instead focused on breathing in and out. "And you need to... rest."

"But Captain-"

Her words halted as the grip on her wrist tightened, expressing what he knew he verbally could not overpower. "You said Squad Four was..." He swallowed, she noted, and he turned his head and shut his eyes, as if some stupid motion would really will the pain away. "They're coming... I can last that long."

Hesitantly, and with a sigh from the user, the kido began to disappear. While not much had seemed to actually have healed, at least she had stopped the bleeding, it appeared.

While he had been right about her being injured, it was nothing compared to what he had sustained. A small cut on her cheek- which appeared worse than it was because the blood had smudged, allowing room for more to come to the surface of her skin- and a rather large cut across her right leg. Neither one was too serious or brought much pain, only a sense of discomfort at knowing they were there and blood was going to dry.

No, neither one of her wounds was serious, let alone worth mentioning to anyone in Squad Four. Not until long after Hitsugaya's own had been tended to.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto!"

She heard it before she actually saw anyone; but when she looked up, three Squad Four members had used shunpo to stand around the pair. A look of concern and pity showed on two younger medics' faces, while the oldest, third one had a hard-set glare.

"Three members from Squad Ten told us what happened. We are to believe Captain Hitsugaya is in need of emergency medical treatment."

A pause before she spoke. "A Hollow clawed at his stomach."

The words felt odd on her tongue, and she turned her attention to her captain, whose eyes had fallen shut. She could feel his Spiritual Pressure gushing a little, as if his injury prevented him from keeping a cap on it; the air that escaped his mouth left small puffs in the chill that was forming in their immediate area.

She missed a command, obviously, because the two younger members had bent down on either side of her captain, and they began their kido treatment.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto," the oldest spoke as he bent down beside her. While his attention did not turn to the patient, Matsumoto's did; and as he grew in discomfort, she gave him her hand. He squeezed it, and she had to resist a grimace at the force. "Why did you not bring Captain Histugaya to Squad Four? He would have been treated much faster, and out here we won't be able to completely heal him."

Her glare turned on him, one of disgust and anger. "If you don't think I realized that, then I think Squad Four should have sent someone more intelligent." The man froze by the harshness of her tone. Not to mention her cold stare, which didn't even flinch as the grip on her hand from her struggling captain tightened once more. "Captain Hitsugaya could not be moved. He was bleeding too profusely, and the injury caused too much pain."

Her Spiritual Pressure remained in check. While her captain's was a bit loose, she realized any flare up from her or the Squad Four members would bring agitation to him.

"This treatment is only meant to make him mobile." She held her stare with the name-less Soul Reaper. "I would think that as a member of Squad Four, you would have realized that."

Silence engulfed the area, only punctuated by the heavy breathing of the captain in Matsumoto's lap.

Then, with one swift movement into a sitting bow, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant Matsumoto. Forgive me for my ignorance."

The Soul Reaper remained bowed. While she never relieved him, his stance broke as one of the other healers spoke up.

"Sir, he should be stable enough to move now."

While the man remained silent in slight fear, Matsumoto spoke up.

"Captain?"

His eyes wearily opened, and he looked around as if disoriented- which, he probably was, Matsumoto heeded. It made him look even younger than he was, and her heart went out to him.

"Hmm?" His eyes finally made contact with hers; half-lidded, they gave the impression he had just woken from a nap.

"We're heading to Squad Four. If something hurts, just tell us to stop."

This tone was one Hitsugaya rarely heard from his Lieutenant, but he appreciated it none-the-less. "All right," he replied, his fist clenching as he felt Matsumoto begin to move around.

She was honestly frightened as she lifted him up into her arms, and she could feel her heart pounding and then nearly bursting as his tiny hand clenched her clothes. His blood- whatever had collected on the two of them- sloshed to the ground and added to the already copious amount lying before them. Before she became too guilty, she shunpoed towards Squad Four.

She vaguely felt the grip on her clothes tighten as worry consumed the usually calm lieutenant.

* * *

 _"Captain, you're never going to believe what just happened!"_

 _The door burst open and in came Matsumoto, a smile on her lips as the words tumbled out._

 _She shut the door behind herself before she made her way over towards her captain's desk, where he sat filling out a seemingly endless amount of paperwork. His eyes never strayed from the work, and his hand continued to glide around the sheet as he read and wrote. "Is it a good enough excuse for why you're not doing your work?"_

 _"What? No, I was just taking a break!" While her voice was upbeat, he did note that she was not, in fact, drunk... Yet, at least. "But I was at the Third Division..."_

 _Her voice wasn't tuned out, but Hitsugaya instead found himself more focused on the papers. He caught snip bits of her story, about Lieutenant Izuru and Lieutenant Hisagi and something with_ them _being drunk. She noticed his concentration on her supposedly being slim to nothing, but she continued none-the-less, especially when she spilled the details on Hisagi's rather embarrassing mishap with some new recruits to his division, and her captain actually smiled at the humor of it._

 _The story went on for no more than five minutes- "...and then Lieutenant Izuru... Captain?" -when Matsumoto quieted herself out of concern._

 _While she had been glancing nonchalantly around the room during the story, as opposed to watching Hitsugaya tediously scribble on paper after paper, she eventually wound up back at him._

 _He was unrelenting in his work, and the Gotei 13 should have been proud to call him one of their captains. Despite the injury he suffered and was recovering from, he refused to back down on his work load._

 _At least, until she had something to say about it._

 _"Get out of here, Captain."_

 _With that, the chair was pulled back and away from the desk._

 _Too engrossed in his work, Hitsugaya didn't notice that Matsumoto had stopped talking, nor did he realize she had walked behind his desk. She was lucky he had just ended a sentence, or else the sheet would have been marred by an ugly black streak, all thanks to her playful attitude._

 _Except, he had to notice, her voice didn't carry that lighthearted tone it usually did. It was still warm and caring, but something else was bringing it down from its usual boisterous feel. He turned his head to find her standing with straight posture beside his chair._

 _He stared for a moment in silence, before something unspoken passed between them._

 _With a sigh of resignation, he set the writing utensil down, careful to avoid a mishap with the form he had nearly completed, and stood._

 _"At least finish the stack on my desk. I would prefer to not come back to work that is a week old."_

 _He left without meeting her eyes; she was glad, because while she could hide her guilt in her voice, her eyes would have given away more than he already knew. She occupied where her Captain had been not a minute prior and began working. She had already told him she would do the paperwork for the next_ month _if it meant he would take at least a week off._

* * *

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, you need to let him go."

It was the Squad Four lieutenant speaking to her, but she was too shocked to truly hear what was being commanded of her. Her uniform was soaked with blood, and it was so heavy. Never mind that she was carrying her short captain; his weight was insignificant compared to his blood now soaking through her clothes.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, please, he needs to be treated!"

She froze as she realized who was speaking to her; she spun on her heels, and she didn't dare try to mask her concern.

"Lieutenant Isane!" The other lieutenant was taken aback for a moment. "Please, help him!"

The rest was nearly a blur, because as soon as he was lifted from her grasp, she grew cold at the sight of so much _blood_ left on her. Faintly, she recalled another member of Squad Four guiding her to a room to quickly examine her. Of course, they found nothing serious; it was all his blood left on her from the waist up, predominantly. Instead they fetched her a new uniform and left her alone to change.

She didn't see her captain for nearly twelve hours, Lieutenant Isane claiming that it was merely to let him sleep and restore his strength. Matumsoto couldn't help but realize that such a tremendous blood lose surely would cause one to become overly exhausted, and she just couldn't get over the _blood_.

She also couldn't get over how desperately she needed to hug him when she next saw him.

He stood a little wearily, wearing a white counterpart to the black Soul Reaper uniform, and he looked so pure, even with the white bandage they had taped on his cheek from some cut that was insignificant compared to the other injuries he sustained. His wounds had just been redressed under his clothes before he was allowed to wander outside of his room; they needed to be able to notice if something reopened.

And when he came stepping out, eyes and body still sleep-riddled and exhausted, he gave a small half smile at his lieutenant, who was starring at him questioningly, unsure if she should talk to him or leave him be. His small acknowledgement seemed to lift her fogged brain, and her mind cleared enough to realize her captain would be just fine.

He was surprised at the encompassing hug he was absolutely smothered in. It only took a second passed initial shock before he returned the embrace.

 _ **End**_

* * *

 _As of 11/23/15, "Frozen Ashes" is complete. Because this is a series of one-shots, though, I may update in the future. Thank you for taking the time to read and review!_


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